How to use NPO Start?

The first week of the new year has been pretty gloomy so far. There’s no foresight for snow or ice so those ice skates will have to stay in the attic a little longer. To survive these dark and cold days you can snuggle up on the couch with a blanket and a cup of hot tea while enjoying everything the Dutch television has to offer.

There’s always Netflix of course. The Dutch account offers a decent variety of Dutch movies and tv shows. But what do you do if you want to watch the ‘oudejaarsconference’ again or want to catch up on some episodes of ‘De Slimste Mens’?

The Netherlands had her own streaming service for exactly this purpose: NPO Start. This website and app allows you to watch Dutch television shows that have been broadcasted by the Publieke Omroep These are NPO1, 2, 3 and NPO Zapp.

It’s relatively easy: you navigate to the website of NPO Start and click on the show you want to watch. But to sum things up below you will find the necessary steps you need to take:

Create an account or login if you are already registered. When using the account you can create a viewers profile that will save your preferences. NPO uses this to recommend shows to you and to let you know if a new episode of your favourite show is online. The account also makes it possible to sync devices. This means that if you started to watch ‘Tussen Kunst en Kitsch’ in the train, you can continue where you left of on your laptop later on.

Search for the programme you want to watch. You can filter by TV Channel or genre or use the available TV Guide if you remember what day and time the show was on.

The app is also available for most Smart TV’s which makes using NPO Start even easier. For the best picture quality you’ll have to pay a small monthly fee though.